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Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')

CVE-2017-2616

Severity Medium
Score 4.7/10

Summary

A race condition was found in util-linux before 2.32.1 in the way su handled the management of child processes. A local authenticated attacker could use this flaw to kill other processes with root privileges under specific conditions.

  • HIGH
  • LOCAL
  • NONE
  • UNCHANGED
  • NONE
  • LOW
  • NONE
  • HIGH

CWE-362 - Race Condition

A race condition occurs in a shared memory program when two threads/processes access the same shared memory data, and at least one thread executes a write operation. This vulnerability manipulates the time to check vs. time to use (TOC/TOU) gap between the threads in the critical section to cause disorientation in the shared data. The impact can vary from compromising the confidentiality of the system to causing the system to crash or to execute arbitrary code.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published